Lets start Again
by thepurpleipod
Summary: Finn finds Rachael in an unexpected place and their story begins. Again.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Glee.**

**Just some random idea I had floating around my head. Finchael.

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I'm in a stripper club. Yes, that's right, sweet, naïve Finn is in a stripper club in New York City. On his 21st birthday. Why am I here? Well, Puck, my now somewhat best friend (we got over the baby thing) said that on my 21st birthday he would take me to a stripper club. He has been to lots of clubs because he is a few months older than me. He claims this one is the best. Whatever. I said yes to it because I thought I could go once, just to see if I like it. If I do, I'll continue. If not, I'll never go to one again. Puck claims I'll love it. Meh, we'll see.

I haven't really been able to trust Puck that well after the baby incident. He was a loner for sometime until I forgave him. I forgave Quinn too. Quinn indeed had a beautiful, healthy girl named Amanda. She is about 5 years old right now. Quinn married some random Texan and moved to Texas with him. Quinn now works at a beauty salon and is taking classes at the local college. Her husband owns some family business, so they are pretty well off. Quinn calls me sometimes to talk. We'll talk for hours about life, my job as a policeman, Puck, Puck's long time girlfriend (surprising, right?) Lucy, and the good times in high school.

"Finn, over here!" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my attention to Puck, waving at me to come and sit. "You're going to love this, Finn. Hot chicks. Very hot."

"I'm surprised Lucy doesn't mind." Puck shrugged. "She's fine with it now. Here lemme go grab some drinks."

As I sat there waiting for Puck, I thought about Glee, and what happened to it. Ah, Glee, and all the drama. The only couple that survived all the way through college and now adulthood is Artie and Tina. They are now engaged living still living in Lima, but they're going to move out soon. Mercedes and Kurt became hugely successful designers, they both share a brand. Mercedes' boyfriend is a doctor and Kurt is trying to find "the one". They both live in Los Angeles. I don't know what happened to Matt, Mike or Brittany but I know Santana became a cheerleading coach. And then, there is Rachael. I haven't heard from her in a while. Last time I saw her, she was in the airport heading off to NYC. She got into NYU for musical theatre in hopes of getting into Broadway shows. In our senior year, she was basically my best friend. We'd hang out and go to movies and laugh. Nothing really went past the friends zone until we were at the airport. I did an idiot move and kissed her before she left. She had tears in her eyes as she walked into the gate. I don't regret what I did, but I call it idiot because when I kissed her, I fell in love with her. And that was the last time I was going to see her. Smooth Finn, I remember thinking.

I didn't hear from her after that. It's like she disappeared from the face of the earth. I check the cast listings of all the Broadway shows to see if her name would pop up, but it never did.

"Here, got you an apple martini." I looked at him and he laughed. "First drink and first strip club, all in one." Suddenly, music started blaring through the speakers. Whoops filled the air. The lights went down. The strippers came out. Most of them were creepers wearing too much eye make up. Most of them were beach blonde and had spray tans. Only one of the girls caught my eye. Shorter than some of them, wearing a really short black skirt. I could see her thong. She had tannish skin and dark hair. The way she moved, the way the short skirt bounced up and down, it was exactly like…

"Rachael" I breathed. "I thought you'd like to see her." I looked up. Puck was smiling at me. "Surprise!" I started in disbelief. "Rachael became a stripper?"

"Exotic dancer, Finn. Say exotic dancer." I shrugged. "Whatever."

I was in too much shock to say anything else. Rachael, stripper? It doesn't sound right. She came here for Broadway, not stripping. No, no, no. She would never do this. She's too smart. I looked at her again, trying to see if Puck was lying. Nope, it was definitely her. I could see her face now. Shit, she's coming over here.

"How did you know it was Rachael?" I stared at Puck, waiting.

"I was hanging hear after closing and she walked out. I confronted her and she told me not to tell anyone." Puck shrugged. "She knows I'm not trustworthy."

Finn shivered as Rachael got closer. She hasn't noticed me yet. She danced her way over, collecting tips on the way. "Dude, give her a tip. I'm getting some more drinks."

"What, no! Puck she'll-" but Puck already got up. I sighed. Maybe I should let her know I'm here. I pulled out a 20 from my pocket and waved it around. Rachael most probably saw the money but not me because of the lighting. She made her way over here. Slowly, she bent down to pick up the money. She finally looked at me. And fainted. I caught her.

A commotion started to happen. The bouncers came up to me and asked what happened. I ended up taking her to the hospital. The ride was a blur. Everything was a blur, until she woke up.

"Finn?" she croaked. "Explain."


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry for the wait. I couldn't think of a good chapter to follow the first one. So, this chapter and the 3rd chapter will**

**be 2 painfully short chapters as a result to somewhat of a writer's block and school. I'll try 2 make the 4th one longer. **

**Oh, and if you want, you can suggest some stuff for the story. I pretty new to fanfiction, so I wouldn't a little help.  
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I sat on the hospital bed, trying to think of an explanation.

"Uh, about what?"

"About how you were in a stripper club in NYC!"

"Yeesh, Rachael, calm down. I can't believe you still get worked up about little things." Whoops. Wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean, little things? This is not little, this is huge! I mean-"

"Calm yourself. God. And to answer your question, it was Puck. He convinced me to go."

"Oh. Okay. That makes sense." She smiled.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Lets talk." She was about to start on a long ramble when I interrupted. "We can talk, but first explain to me why you are a stripper." Her smile faded.

"Well, uh, I came here to NYU and everything was fine but, uh, something happened." She took a deep breath. "I dropped out." I was in shock. "Why did Rachael Berry drop out of musical theatre?" She smiled a little at my surprised, but got serious again.

"Uh, well, there was this guy in my class, and we were kind of dating…"

My heart kind of sank when I heard that. She dated someone else? I guess she had the right, but still, I never thought she would.

"So, one day we were at my apartment and we were watching a movie when he…" She looked like she was trying not to cry. "He, uh, ra-" She burst into tears. I knew what she was going to say. That jerk. He doesn't deserve Rachael. I hugged her while she cried. When she was done, she breathed and continued.

"After that, he started acting horrible to me, abusing me more, and he turned people at NYU against me. I got sick of it so I dropped out. When he found out, he said he knew I would never finish school and said I could only do one thing right, sell my body. I felt like crap alone in my apartment. My dads called once in a while to get me to come back to Lima, but I said no, I came to New York to pursue my dreams. So, to make money, I took the guy's advice and became a stripper." I stared at her. That was a lot of information to take in. I felt terrible for not knowing what she was going through.

"Hey, Rach? When you get out of the hospital, call me. I'll take you out for dinner and you can stay at my hotel for a bit. Your getting out soon, right?"

She smiled. "Yup, I am, but I think I have work today."

"Come on Rach. You haven't seen me forever. Take a day off for me? Please?"

She thought for a moment. "Okay, but only for you."

I smiled and gave her my number. Walking out of the hospital, I felt really tired, saying it was late and I just learned tons of information. I was never good at learning lots of information at one time. Maybe that's why everyone thought I was dumb because I couldn't remember every little thing the teachers said to us. Or maybe I couldn't remember what they said because I never took down notes. Nah.


	3. Chapter 3

**As said in the 2nd chapter, this will be short and crappy. Suggestions for the story welcome.

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I sat down on the hotel bed and waited for her phone call. When I got bored of sitting, I started pacing around the room. I took a shower. I watched some news. I did some push-ups. It was 1 am when she called.

"Finn, I know it's late, but they let me out. Want to go somewhere to celebrate are reunion now?"

"Are there places that are open at 1 am?"

She laughed. "Finn, it's the city that never sleeps. The are tons of places open."

I met her in the hotel lobby. She ran up to me and hugged me, just like those really romantic hugs that hormonal preteens cry at. "So, where are we heading off to?" She smiled. "It's a surprise."

She flagged down a taxi and told him to go to the restaurant while covering my ears so I wouldn't hear. Damn, she was so close to me I could kiss her neck if I turned my head. No, idiot, you just reunited with her a few hours ago. No kissing, yet.

She pulled a scarf from her bag and tied it around my head so I couldn't see where we were going. She held my had and started leading me. "Are we there yet?" Rachael giggled. "Gosh Finn, impatient as ever."

"Well I'm sorry, but walking around with a blindfold over me at 3am isn't what I call the best way to wait for a surprise. If you're trying to distract me, it isn't working." Rachael stopped walking. "Well, maybe this will," she whispered. Her voice sent shivers down my back. I felt arms going around my waist and her body weight on me. Then, without warning, she kissed me. In the middle of some street at 3am. I'm not complaining at all, but boy was this weird. I think she felt my discomfort because she pulled away. "Sorry, Finn. I didn't think and I used my seductive moves. Learned that trick from the girls at the club."

"Ha, no problem." We walked again in silence. Feeling brave, I asked "What else did the girls at the club teach you?" Rachael laughed at this. "Oh silly Finn, impatient as ever. You'll see what I learned later." We stopped walking, and I felt her untied the knot of the scarf. "Ta-dah!"

It was a nice, quaint Chinese place, with some little apartments on top. Huh, why all the big show for this. "Thanks Rachael, for bringing me to a Chinese place, but why did you make it a big show." "Oh Finn, I always make a big show about everything and by the way, I'm not bringing you to the Chinese place, I'm bringing you to my home for frozen pizza night, just like old times."

I remember having frozen pizza nights. We would sit and watch whatever was on TV and talk. I remember when her dads weren't home and we talked 'till 1 am. I had to go cause my mom called and told me to get my ass home. Or the other time, when Quinn gave birth to her baby. Automatically when everyone saw her, you could tell the kid was Puck's. Rachael invited me over for frozen pizza and we talked about stuff either than Quinn. Frozen pizza nights made us go from friends to best friends. Maybe frozen pizza nights here in NYC will bring our relationship further.


End file.
